This work is part of Katrina O’Brien’s 2025 solo exhibition, The Unearthing of Woman.

Says O’Brien of this body of work, “The last few years saw me knee-deep in mud, fast sinking and eventually in some kind of dark space. I’d been through a series of experiences where I nearly lost myself, but I knew I needed to protect a part of myself. There were seeds that I carried in a small box with me, through those dark times; seeds of things I wanted to keep safe and grow if I ever got the chance to live again.

“One of those seeds was thoughts of a daughter. I’d dreamed of her since I was in my twenties. I can recall those dreams vividly; she was always curious, light and strangely intelligent. Over the years, it was the same child appearing. She was patient with me as if I was the child—like she was trying to teach me something, but I just couldn’t see it yet.

“The works oscillate between the micro and macro structures of the universe—depicting atoms and photons, to a gathering of constellations and nebulae. Some works step so far inwards, to the beginning of life in the womb.”